Grand Valley State University has run out of room for educating its science, technology, engineering and math students, but Monday's signing of a state capital outlay bill enables the university to collect $30 million toward a proposed $55 million science building on the school's Allendale campus.
Governor Rick Snyder signed the bill in Detroit, enabling the work on the nearly 150,000-square-foot science facility to move forward toward bonding the remaining $25 million and drawing up architectural plans for construction, says Matt McLogan, VP for university relations.
"We've had this [facility] planned and ready for the opportune moment, and happily the governor and legislature came together to reinvest in our universities in science, engineering, technology and math programs," McLogan says. "The [existing] Padnos Hall of Science has been full for a long time, which is the reason for the new building."
McLogan says the building will be constructed across Campus Drive from the Padnos Hall of Science and will house laboratories, classrooms and faculty offices for programs in biology, chemistry and physics. GVSU hopes to hold the first classes there in the fall of 2015.
"Grand Valley has made a significant investment in the health professions, science, technology, engineering and math, and those programs constitute almost half of our enrollment," McLogan says. "These programs produce high-quality graduates in professions where there are not graduates to meet demand in Michigan."
Source: Matt McLogan, Grand Valley State University
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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